G&ES 115 (1 credit)Instructor: Jim Hathaway, member of Association of PA State College & University
Faculties (APSCUF). APSCUF is committed to promoting excellence in
all that we do to ensure that our students receive the highest quality educationOffice: 325 ATS (go through 319 ATS)Office Hours: T and Th: 3:30-4:15; W:, 2:00-3:15; F: 2:00-4:15;feel free to see me at other timesPhone: 724-738-2391Email: james dot hathaway at sru dot edu
When and Where:
Section 01: October 2 - November 4, MWF 1:00-1:50, 309 ATSRequired Materials:"Portersville Quadrangle"
(USGS
topographic map, also see "Topographic Map Symbols" on this
webpage)calculator (cell phone calculators
are not allowed during exams)flash drive or memory stickCourse Description:
Provides fundamental map concepts with application in web mapping services, topographic maps, and introductory geographic information systems

Your course grade will be based on the extent of your mastery of the outcomes listed below. I evaluate these outcomes in four assignments worth 50 points each and in two exams worth 400 points each for a course total of 1000 points. You are allowed to bring one page of notes to the two exams. Course grades are awarded as follows: 900-1000 = A, 800-899 = B, 700-799 = C, 600-699 = D, below 600 = F.

Attendance is important. Each class builds on the one before it, so if you
miss one, it may be difficult to follow what is going on. Your attendance
will affect your grade. Each unexcused absence in excess of 1 will result
in a 20-point loss (e.g., a student with 3 unexcused absences will have 40
points deducted from his or her course total). If you are absent, you are
responsible for getting the assignment from another student or me and for
completing it by the due date. Students who are late to class should see
me at the end of the period to ensure that they were not marked absent.

Academic
Integrity:
The work that you submit must be your own, for both moral and legal reasons. In this course you may collaborate on assignments but you may not collaborate on exams. The academic integrity section of the undergraduate catalog goes into more detail about what academic dishonesty is and its consequences SRU’s Academic Policies and
Procedures.

Student Learning Outcomes:Map Reading and Interpretation is taught in the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment (GGE). Among the outcomes that GGE students will achieve upon graduation are

each graduate shall develop skills in quantitative, qualitative, technological, laboratory, and field procedures, and

each graduate shall develop general knowledge and understanding of the concepts of location, place, human environment interactions, movement, and region.

Among the evidence that a student displays for attainment of number 1 above is each graduate will learn to read, construct, and comprehend thematic maps and derive perspective output from a map

and for the attainment of number 2 above is each graduate will demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as absolute and relative location, proximity, separation, direction, region, hierarchy, density, and dispersion, and methods that are used to describe and analyze spatial patterns, and

each graduate will demonstrate an understanding of absolute location systems such as latitude-longitude and alpha-numeric grids

As the first course in the departmentís geospatial techniques course sequence, Map Reading and Interpretation
introduces students to the knowledge and skills required to meet departmental outcomes. By the end of this course, the student will

describe the purposes and distinguishing characteristics of selected map projections

identify and make at least six types of thematic maps and know appropriate uses for each

acquire competence using paper and electronic topographic maps; including concepts such as elevation, direction, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, slope, and profiles; as well as competence in generating and interpreting electronic topographic maps

Map projections, from sphere
to plane: types of global transformation; planar, cylindrical,
conic, and miscellaneous projections; projection properties, choice of
projections Wikipedia has a helpful
article on map projection, also see the USGS
webpage
on projections or the user friendly radical cartography site. For two interactive sites that use Tissot's Indicatrices
to show distortion in projections, see here.This site also compares map projections by distortion